Past commitments
by Eric Border
Summary: The Joker's past comes back to him when a girl shows up at his door step, claiming she's his daughter, Joker and Harley now have to figure out how to take care of her and Harley gradually starts to see a change in him.
1. Old secrets

It was the middle of the night when Harley and Joker awoke to the sound of banging at their door. Joker lazily sat up and pulled on a pair of sweat pants as he ambled downstairs to the front door, in no particular rush. The banging continued "All right already! I'm coming!" Joker yelled as he reached the door.

He opened it to see a small girl standing in front of him, she looked about seven years old. Her clothes were dirty and she was clinging to a small teddy bear. Joker looked at her and said "I'm sorry we don't have any money to give you" as he began to close the door.

"I don't want money" came the girl's meek voice.

"Then what do you want?" Joker sighed leaning on the door.

"I want my daddy" she answered.

"Your daddy aint here, look somewhere else, sweetheart" he began to close the door again.

"But…but you're my dad" she said.

This stopped Joker dead in his tracks "What?" he asked quietly?

"Y…you're my dad"

"I don't have a daughter, so just go home to your mommy little girl"

"My mommy's dead"

Joker stared at the girl as she stared back, Joker remembered what it was like to be alone on the streets and knew how horrible it could be. He looked at the girl, she looked almost identical to him, other than the bleached skin and green hair of course "W…what was your mommy's name?"

"Jeanie Napier" Joker closed his eyes at the sound of her name, he remembered her. She was his wife before he had become the Joker, he also remembered that she had been pregnant when he left her "Mommy said that if anything happened to her that I had to come find you" when Joker didn't respond she continued "You're Jack Napier, my daddy and I'm Chloe Napier, your daughter"

Joker looked down at her again, she had Jeanie's eyes and her hair "Wait here" Joker said as he walked back inside. He went to his room he shared with Harley and sure enough she was still asleep, she slept like a rock. He walked back downstairs to find Chloe walking around the room "I told you to wait out front" he said as he lifted her up and sat her at the counter. Joker walked around to the other side, he leaned on his hands and looked at the girl.

"I'm hungry"

"Of course you are" Joker mumbled. He looked around and found as piece of pizza from a couple of nights ago, it was slightly mouldy _Good enough_ he thought "Here" he said as he put the plate down in front of Chloe.

The girl made a face at the meal "Ew"

"Well what do you want?"

"Do you have any ice-cream?"

Joker growled as he took a tub of ice-cream out of the fridge and set it down in front of her. He looked around and pulled a spoon out of an old bowl of soup and put it next to the ice cream for her to use "There, better?" Chloe sighed and shook her head as she stood up and walked over to the sink, she turned on the tap and rinsed the spoon in the water until it was clean. She then returned to her seat and began to eat the ice cream. Joker stared at her "You're just like your mother"

Joker then heard someone coming downstairs "Who's that?" asked the girl as she clung to her bear.

"That'll be Harley"

"Jay?" Harley called "Why aren't ya in bed no more?"

"Down here Harley" Joker called back.

"Jay its two o clock in the…" Harley trailed off when she looked up to see Joker standing beside a small girl sitting at the counter "Uh…Jay? Who's this?"

Joker took a deep breath "This is Chloe…she's my…" he hesitated, _would Harley really be ok with this?_

"He's my daddy" Chloe said as she beamed up at Joker.

Joker lifted his eyes from the floor to look at Harley without lifting his head "Is that true Jay?" Harley whispered.

"I uh I dunno yet"

"You don't know?" Harley asked as she walked closer to the Joker "How could you not know if you had a child or not?!" Harley asked as she burst into tears "How could you do this to me?! How could you betray me like this?!"

"How did I betray you?"

"You had a child! You obviously fucked another woman!" she shouted but Joker remained calm.

"Chloe go sit on the couch ok?" Joker said and Chloe nodded silently and walked to the couch. The only sound that could be heard was the padding of Chloe's socked feet and Harley silent sobbing. Once Joker had closed the door to the living room he rounded on Harley "Don't you dare use that language around her!"

Harley looked up at him in surprise, Joker had never had a problem with profanity before but now all of a sudden he despised it "Why did you do it?"

"It was before I met you, before I met the bat even. I was married, I thought she was dead Harley! I didn't know she had my kid!"

"Well you should have check shouldn't you?!"

"I THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD!" Joker yelled so loud that Batman himself probably could have heard.

This made Harley stop sobbing and screaming "What are we going to do with her?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know" Joker sighed looking through the crack in the door at the little girl.

"We could raise her" Harley suggested.

"Do you really think that we are in the right state to raise a child?!" Joker retorted sternly.

"I could take care of her" Harley said "Rocco could help, he had a daughter"

Joker groaned "We'll let it sleep here tonight, we'll figure out what to do with it in the morning"

Harley nodded "Ok" she approached the living room "And don't call her an it, 'it' is your daughter"

An hour later the Joker was sitting across from Chloe who was snuggled up in about five blankets that Harley had given her. Harley had since gone to bed but Joker stayed down stairs looking at Chloe "Why do you do that?" she suddenly asked.

"Do what?"

"Stare at me"

"Just thinking" He said standing up getting ready to return to his own bed.

"Oh" she yawned "Good night daddy" she sighed as she closed her eyes again.

 _Daddy?_ Joker thought _that'll take some getting used to_ Joker bent down and kissed her on the forehead "Good night, sweetheart" He stood up and began walked back to his bedroom "Great, now I have to take care of two dames" he said as he landed on the bed face down "Why me?"

"Jay? You alright?" Harley asked turning over.

"I'm fine" he replied as he took her in his arms.

"You think we might keep her?"

"We'll figure something out in the morning. Now let me sleep you useless waste of space" he said closing his eyes and nuzzling into the back of Harleys neck making her smile and fall asleep herself.


	2. Not a secret anymore

Joker woke up with Harley's arms wrapped around him, he quietly slipped away from her grip and walked downstairs turning the coffee machine on. The coffee machine made a loud irritating noise which Joker was surprised didn't wake Harley up. He took the coffee from the machine pouring it into a cup without adding milk or sugar. He almost dropped the cup when he turned around to see Chloe, who he had forgotten all about, sitting at the counter and looking at him expectantly "Jesus, you almost gave me a fucking heart attack" he gasped.

Chloe covered her ears and began yelling "Bad word! Bad word! You shouldn't say the f word!"

"Oh uh…sorry kid" Joker stuttered "What do you want?"

"Breakfast" she replied simply.

"You'll have to wait till Harley wakes up" Joker muttered drinking from his coffee cup.

"Can I go wake her up then?"

"What?! No!"

"Then can… _you_ wake her up?" she asked hopefully.

Joker sighed, he never planned to have a kid with Jeanie, it just happened. It was a mistake, they didn't have enough money to take care of a kid so he went to crime to get money and then…Joker shook his head away from his memories as he remembered the task at hand "Roc!" he called into the warehouse.

A few moments later a tall extremely muscular man walked into the room, the man stopped in his tracks when he spotted the small girl at the counter "Uhh boss? You aint gonna ask me to…" Roc began worriedly.

"No! I aint gonna ask you to kill her!" Joker yelled and Roc sighed in relief "This is my daughter Chloe, I need you to go get her some breakfast. Go to McDonalds or somethin'"

Roc looked from the girl to Joker "I didn't know you and Harley…"

"It's none a your business! Just go and get some food for Christ sake!"

Roc nodded hastily and ran out of the room "But I'm hungry now" Chloe whined.

Joker groaned in annoyance, he didn't know how to take care of a little girl. Maybe Harley will know because she was a little girl at one point. He stood still looking down at the child who was clinging onto her bear "Harley!" he called but not in his usual angry voice but in a worried 'I don't know what I'm doing' tone.

"Yes Jay?" she asked coming down stairs.

"Take care of this" joker said holding Chloe out to her as far away from him as possible.

"And what exactly am I taking care of?" Harley asked taking Chloe in one arm and placing the other on her hip.

"I don't know anything about a child! I don't…just…fix it!" Joker said.

"She's not an it!"

Joker threw his hands into the air and stormed into his study slamming the door "Why's daddy angry?"

"Because that's the first time he's said 'I don't know'" Harley said smirking at where the Joker had run off to "Ok…" Harley said walking over to the fridge "What do you want for breakfast?"

Chloe looked around the kitchen and excitedly pointed to a box of chocolate cereal "Yes, yes, yes!" she cried happily bouncing in Harleys arms.

Harley took the cereal from the shelf "You're just like you're father"

Chloe beamed at Harley as she dug into the bowl of cereal she had poured for her. Joker came back out of his study and stopped in front of Chloe, he stared at her before saying "Seriously? You wanted cereal?" Chloe nodded beaming up at him "I could have gotten you cereal. Why didn't you just tell me, so I didn't have to wake up my girlfriend?"

"I dunno"

"Don't 'I dunno' me!" Joker yelled and Chloe looked up at him in fear.

Joker began to approach her when Harley pulled him back and pressed him against the wall by his shoulders "Don't" she said firmly "You're not going to hurt her"

"I don't give a fu…" Joker began angrily.

"Joker" Harley warned glaring at him.

Joker immediately silenced, he knew she meant business when she used his name. Jokers glare slowly softened as he looked from Chloe to Harley, he nodded and Harley moved away from him. They then heard a knock on the door and Harley walked away to answer it "Who is it?" Joker asked.

"That'll be the others, remember you wanted them here to plan something?"

Joker turned back to Chloe "Come here, baby" he said softly as he lifted her up, holding her he carried her towards the living room.

"Mr J, what are you doing?" Harley whispered harshly.

"They'll find out sooner or later" Joker retorted "Better now than later"

"Hi guys!" Harley greeted opening the door and forcing a smile onto her face as Joker cradled Chloe close to his chest.

"Good evening, Harley" Crane said nodding to her.

"Hey, darling" Ivy greeted hugging Harley.

As Harvey and Jervis filed in after them greeting Harley in turn, Joker felt an awful wave of nervousness wash over him. He began to feel protective of the little…thing that he held tightly against him not taking his eyes off of the rogues entering his home "Hey Harley, where's…Jay…at?" Harvey finished slowly as his gaze landed on Joker holding onto the small girl.

Ivy looked at the child "Jay?" she asked "Why you do have a little girl?"

Joker was silent "This is Chloe" was all he came up with.

"Why do you have her?" Ivy repeated.

"Did you kidnap her?!" Crane asked, he never thought Joker would stoop to such a level as to kidnap an innocent child but as he looked closer he saw that the girl was unnaturally comfortable being held by the most insane man in Gotham.

"Of course not!" Joker yelled back at them and Chloe winced at the sound of her father's angry voice. Joker noticed this and stroked her hair softly as she buried her face into his neck, hiding her eyes from the people watching "Sh, sh, sh" he soothed her, he looked up to see everyone's confused stares "This is my daughter, Chloe Napier"

Everyone's eyes widened at his statement. Crane turned to Harley "I didn't know that you and he…"

"No, she's…uh…she's not _my_ daughter" Harley stuttered nervously, she knew how protective Jonathon could get especially when it involved Joker "It was conceived with Jay and another woman"

He then turned back to Joker "You…cheated…on her?" He whispered through gritted teeth, Joker stared back at him.

"Jonathon…" Jervis warned worriedly but Crane ignored him.

"You slept with another woman?!" Ivy yelled at him furiously.

Harvey stayed silent in the back of the room, Jervis tried to hold Crane back from Joker while Harley tried to do the same with Ivy "No...You don't understand!" Harley screamed pulling Ivy back.

Ivy turned on her "He can't explain his way out of this one Harley!"

"She was from before he was the Joker!" She cried desperately and they both stopped trying to get to Joker and looked at Harley, surprised for the second time tonight "He hadn't even met me when she was conceived!"

Ivy glared at Joker "So you just abandon you child Jay?"

"No" Joker replied angrily.

Ivy looked at the girl who had finally showed her red face to the crowd "He doesn't love you, he doesn't love anything" she turned her glared to Harley "If you have any sense tell the bat or take her and run away from Jay"

"I can't do that to them" Harley whimpered.

"It's the only responsible thing to do" Ivy continued "Take her away from Jay"

"No!" Chloe cried and everyone turned to see her clinging onto Jokers shirt for dear life "Don't take my daddy away-ay-ay" she broke off into uncontrollable sobs.

Ivy felt a pang of guilt run through her. This girl had just found her father after god knows how long and they were telling her he didn't love her and that they were handing her over to someone who would most likely beat her father senseless "Hey, shh it's going to be alright" Joker whispered to her "I won't let them take you away from me, I'll kill _anyone_ " he growled directing his glare at Ivy "who tries"

"Am I allowed to hold her?" Ivy asked Harley gently. Harley could tell she meant no harm but Joker gave a sceptical look. It was kind of sweet seeing Joker act so protective.

Harley walked over to Joker and held out her arms to him "It's okay Jay" she reassured him.

She gently took Chloe from Jokers arms "Harl…I….I don't think that…it's a…good idea to…"

"She's fine" Harley said and carried Chloe to Ivy, passing Chloe to her softly.

Chloe flinched as Ivy's arms wrapped around her waist, steadying her on her hip "Hi, my names Pamela" Ivy greeted softly.

Chloe lifted her eyes to Ivy and gradually her fear subsided and a small smile crept onto her lips "Hi" she replied timidly.

Ivy smiled back at her and bounce her up and down softly causing her to giggle, Joker grinned as he watched the rogues play with his daughter, there was only one thing he fear of happening "What's your daddy's name, sweetheart" Harvey piped up suddenly. _That._

"His name is ak mafier" she finished muffled by Jokers hand that suddenly covered her mouth.

"I think that's enough questions for today" he said and chuckled awkwardly.

"Jay come on you can trust us" Harley pleaded.

"Not as far as I can throw you" Joker retorted coldly. He saw Harley's reaction and his glare softened "Harl I didn't mean…" Harley choked out a sob and Joker went to comfort her.

Unfortunately to do that he had to remove his hand from Chloe's mouth and as soon as he moved away Chloe said "Jack Napier" everyone looked at Joker and his stare went from Chloe to the others.

"Fuck" he muttered to himself.


	3. Mistakes

Everyone continued to stare at the Joker and Chloe beamed up at him, oblivious of what she had just done. He stood up slowly "I have to go" was all he said before leaving the room.

Harley began to go after him but stopped when she heard his car starting and pulling out the driveway before speeding down the street. She turned back to the others "He'll come back won't he?" she asked and they all stayed quiet "He's coming back right?" she repeated a little more desperately.

"If he is to come back my dear, it would be best not to let this get out" Crane replied.

"He's right" Harley agreed then she glared at them "Don't you dare tell anyone about this!"

They all agreed in silent murmurs "Yeah" "Ok" "Alright".

"And even if someone offers you a lot of money for his name you will not except or I swear I'll kill you" she threatened.

"Not if 'Jack' kills us first" Ivy muttered emphasising the word 'Jack'.

"You have something to say red?"

Ivy glared back at her "No"

After the others left early Harley sat on the couch thinking and worrying about Joker. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Chloe sat next to her barely sinking into the couch because of her small body "Where's daddy?"

"He just had some work to do honey. He'll be home soon" Harley replied.

The small girl replied with a yawn and snuggled into Harley "I miss him already"

"Yeah me too" Harley whispered "Me too" as she fell asleep with Chloe in her arms.

…

Harley was startle awake by the front door slamming shut and an unsteady figure throwing his keys carelessly onto the floor. It was dark and the only light coming into the room was the moon shining through the window behind the man. Harley leaned over the couch armrest, careful not to wake Chloe and turned on the lamp, throwing yellow-orange glow over the room. The figure who she now could see was Joker was startled by the sudden light and turned around to find the source. His eyes settled on Harley and he calmed down but Harley could see him swaying slowly and leaning his weight on the table behind him, after a while of him just standing there she spoke up "Jay?"

"Go to sleep, Harley" he replied, his voice sounded slower and more relaxed than usual.

Harley's brow pulled together in a frown "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Never better" he replied spreading his arms comically.

"Daddy?" came Chloe's meek voice from where she was looking from behind the sofa.

Harley turned to her "Go upstairs sweetie, you can sleep in the spare room" she said to which Chloe nodded and reluctantly left the room. Harley turned her worried expression back to Joker, she stood from the couch and approached him placing her hand softly on his cheek "Jay you feel so cold" she gasped.

"I feel warm" he retorted.

Harley held his face firmly in her hands stopping it from swaying. His eyes were constricted and there was a thin sheet of sweat that covered his forehead. She flinched as she caught the smell of his breath that had the strong scent of alcohol "Have you been drinking?" she asked.

She felt the muscles in his neck tense as he let out slow silent chuckles "No" he replied between his laughter.

"Jay this isn't like you, you need to lay down" she said letting him leaning on her for support as she led him down the hallway to their room.

"Sure" he chuckled.

Once they reached the bed as soon as Harley released him he fell down on to the bed staring at the ceiling and laughing at some inside joke. She went to the bathroom and grabbed a cold wet flannel to set on the his forehead but once she returned, she found him fast asleep "Mr J?" she called but he didn't even flinch and his chest continued rise and fall slowly.

Harley decided to put his body into a more comfortable position and even then he didn't wake. Once she had him lying on the pillow she took her spot next to him and looked over to him. The only time he looked peaceful was in his sleep, his breathing slowed and the corners of his mouth would lift in a small smile, one that only Harley would notice. When he dreamt his eye brow would twitch and he'd toss and turn during the night. Harley smiled as she curled her arms around him, laid on his chest and slowly fell back to sleep.

…

Joker woke to the sun shining onto his face temporarily blinding him as his eyes adjusted to the light. Once he could see clearly he felt his head ache and a wave of sickness wash over him and he immediately ran over to the bathroom, burying his face into the toilet. He heard Harley rushing down the hallway, alerted by the sound of vomiting. She rushed into the bathroom "Jay are you alright?!"

"I feel like someone sawed open my head, threw razor blades inside and shook it" Joker retorted angrily.

"I've told you when I first met you and I'll tell you again: 'this is why you don't drink'"

"Fuck off, Harley" he replied. She suddenly smacked him in the back of the head which sent another jolt of pain through his head "What the hell?!"

"Don't swear! We have a kid here now!"

"She's not even in the god damn room!"

"She is still here and I don't want her to learn any bad words" she replied and Joker growled as he stood up and stormed from the bathroom with Harley following "What are you doing?"

Joker stopped in the living room where Chloe was watching TV on the floor he picked her up and brought her up to his face "Fuck, shit, bitch" he said before dropping her onto the sofa and turning back to Harley who was glaring at him with her mouth hanging open.

She stomped towards him and slapped him across the face and began her lecture "You need to grow up! You can't be a child raising a child!"

"You're no better!"

"Ugh you're driving me crazy!"

"You already are crazy you stupid bitch!"

"You're driving me…crazy…er!" she retorted slowly. In between the argument Chloe had slipped from the room and ran into her room just in time to miss the couple shove their mouths together in a passionate kiss "Chloe will hear…" she said between kisses.

"Shut up" Joker growled ripping off her top "Just shut up" he repeated shoving her down onto the couch and climbing on top of her.

"Wait I haven't taken my…" Harley began but was cut off by Joker kissing her neck "Aww screw it!" she yelled pulling him down onto her. She'll just skip the pill this one time, what could go wrong?


	4. News

Days past and Joker began to spend less and less time focused on the batman and now spent the majority of his time with Harley and Chloe. Joker had given his permission for them to call him by his real name but whenever the other rouges used it more often than not they would leave with at least one broken bone.

Joker and Chloe had been playing in the living room while Harley stood in front of the bathroom counter staring down at a small calendar. It was way past the days that had been circled "What's wrong?" a voice asked and Harley's head snapped towards the source of the sound, Joker was standing in the doorway.

"I haven't had my period" Harley replied handing him the calendar.

His blank stare went from the calendar to Harley "Your what?"

She sighed "Its thing that happens to girls when their…"

"Ok ok" Joker said desperately trying to get her to stop. He eventually resulted to pressing his hand against her mouth and she furrowed her brow looking up at him in confusion "I don't want to know" he whispered and she couldn't help giggling. He leaned on the counter tossing the calendar on it "So what does it mean, if you don't get it?"

"Well either it means I'm late or…" she trailed off considering the possibility "I have to go" she said suddenly and began tossing her things into a bag.

"Go where?" Joker asked following her out of the bathroom.

"Ivy's" she replied quickly rushing around the hideout.

"Why?" he asked slowly.

"Do I need to give you a reason to want to go to my best friend's house?!" she shrieked in response and he jumped back at her sudden anger "Goodbye! Remember to feed the hyenas, I left the meat in the fridge! Bye Chloe, I love you!" she yelled angrily before slamming the door.

Joker stared at the door she had left through and Chloe came up behind him "She confuses me" she said to him.

"You and me both, kid" he replied lifting her up into his arms "Hopefully she doesn't come back drunk like I did"

"What's drunk?" Chloe asked as he carried her back to the living room where they had been surrounded by drawings and in the process of making more.

"Well when daddy drinks too much of his whiskey he does stupid things and gets sick"

She made a confused face "Then why would you drink it?"

"Because I'm a hypocrite" he sighed sitting next to her on the floor.

"What's a hypocrite?" she pressed.

"Look, honey, I'm not a god damn dictionary"

"I'm gonna tell Harley you swore" she exclaimed pointing her finger at him.

"Someday I'll tell you what happens to snitchers in this city" he said grabbing another piece of paper.

"What's a snitcher?" Chloe asked and Joker groaned falling flat on his back in defeat.

Meanwhile a few blocks away Harley was frantically pressing the doorbell of Poison Ivy's hideout. The door swung open violently "What has he done to you?" she asked worriedly as she checked Harley for bruises "Where's Chloe?" she suddenly gripped her by the shoulders, shaking her as she spoke "Did you leave her alone with _him_?!"

"I'm fine" Harley yelled back to get her to calm down.

"Then why are you here?"

"Why does everyone ask me why I'm coming over when I haven't been beaten up, can't I just visit my friend?"

"Because whenever you come here, you want something" Ivy said narrowing her eye's at Harley and leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

Harley sighed "I need to use a pregnancy test" she said timidly awaiting Ivy's reaction.

Ivy's eyes widened and her mouth fell open "Oh my god!" she gasped "Aren't you on the pill?!"

"I might have forgotten"

Ivy shook her head leading Harley into the hideout "Your stupidity never fails to amaze me"

"Hey!" Harley yelled defensively.

"Just sit down" Ivy said and wondered off down the hallway while Harley sat on the couch and watched the news.

"… _he has not been seen for the past five nights, alerting the GCPD and the Batman's suspicion"_ the reporter said as pictures of the Joker flashed across the screen " _Police suspect that The Joker has either fallen ill or is planning his next big scheme. Batman promises he will find the Joker and get him securely back in Arkham…"_

Harley suddenly felt something hit her in the back of her head, she whirled around to see Ivy glaring at her and her gaze turn to the object that was now resting in her lap. She then noticed that it was a box of pregnancy tests "Well? Hurry up then" Ivy said impatiently.

Harley stuck her tongue out at Ivy as she walked to the bathroom. Once she got there she used the pregnancy test and waited for it to show the result. After waiting for five minutes she decided to take a shower to pass the time. When she got out she pulled a towel around her body and began drying her hair. When she caught sight of the test she had almost forgot about, she leaned forward through the stream to see the result and screamed. She then heard Ivy running to the bathroom and throwing open the door, letting the steam rush from the room "What's wrong?!" she asked panicking.

"I'm pregnant!" Harley yelled back and they both began screaming together.

Ten minutes later Harley was in Ivy's car arguing with her over the situation she was in "What am I supposed to tell him?"

"I don't know!" Ivy replied.

"I need to tell him right?!"

Ivy shrugged "Well…"

"Red" Harley interrupted sternly.

"I think…" Ivy sighed "You need to be straight with him, just get to the point and we'll see how he takes it"

"That sounds like a pretty big gamble, red" Harley replied uncertainly.

"Well what else are you going to do?!"

"I don't know!"

"Well you better figure it out soon" Ivy said as they turned onto the road their warehouse was located.

When they pulled up to the warehouse Harley got out the car and approached the door then noticed that Ivy had not moved from her seat "Come on red"

"Nah, this is between you and him" Ivy said pulling out onto the road "You'll be fine!" she called before driving away.

"So much for best friend" Harley muttered to herself. When she opened the door she was greeted by Chloe's high pitched screaming, she watched as Chloe hid in one of the empty cupboards in Jokers liquor cabinet. Soon after, Joker came into the room and narrowed his eyes looking around the room.

"I wonder where she could _be_!" he exclaimed as he looked under the coffee table "Hmmm" he sighed suspiciously as he stood up again. He approached Harley and embraced her from the side linking his arms around her, his forehead resting against her temple "You didn't happen to see a little girl run through here by any chance? About yay high, dirty brown hair, a bit of a giggling mess?" he asked her smiling against her cheek.

"No" Harley lied, smiling at seeing the Joker in a good mood.

It was then they both heard a giggle from the cupboard Chloe had hid in. His grin grew wider as he walked over to the cupboard. Harley heard a squeal as Joker lifted Chloe out and under his arm as he began to tickle her, mixing her squeals with laughter. Joker then balanced her on his hip and kissed her temple and Harley saw a genuine smile on his face "There's my princess" he said beaming at his daughter.

"Jack?" Harley asked lightly and he turned to her "Could I talk to you in the bedroom please?"

His smile dropped and he put Chloe down on the floor "Draw a nice picture for me sweetheart, I'll be back in a minute" he said and followed Harley into their bedroom "Yeah?" he asked once he closed the door.

"I need to give you some news" she began lightly.

"Good or bad news?"

"….depends" she answered slowly.

"Ok then what is it?" he pressed and Harley mumbled her answer under her breath and he leaned in further "What?"

"I'm….pregnant"


	5. Stay

Joker stared at her for a moment "You're…what?" he repeated calmly.

"Pregnant"

He growled and began to pace the room "No, no, no" he said angrily "You can't be, you're on the pill"

"I…forgot to take it"

"How could you forget?!" he yelled.

"We were fighting and one thing led to another, you know. You were in the mood and I didn't want to ruin it by going to get my pill"

"I would have preferred not getting to fuck you over getting you pregnant!" he roared.

"I didn't want you to be mad about this" she whimpered.

"What did you suppose I was going to think?!"

"I thought you'd be happy" she cried.

"Happy?! I already have one little shit I have to deal with!"

"Don't talk about her that way! She's your own daughter!" Harley shrieked suddenly angry.

"Don't you dare yell at me!" he yelled storming towards her with his fist raised.

Joker stopped in his tracks when he heard his daughters voice "Daddy?" he turned to see Chloe looking from behind the frame. His scowl immediately softened and he lowered his fist as he approached her.

"Hey, honey" he said softly.

"Were you going to hit her?" she whimpered in fear slightly backing away from him.

"No, sweetness, we were just having a little disagreement" he sighed kneeling in front of her.

"About what?" she asked looking up at Harley who turned to Joker.

He nodded to her and she took a deep breath before saying "You're going to get a brother or sister"

Chloe started jumping excitedly "Really?!" she squealed. Harley nodded.

"Well we don't know for sure yet" Joker sighed angrily trying to calm down the two squealing girls.

"What do you mean?" Harley asked "We know I'm pregnant"

"That doesn't mean that we can't fix this" he growled grabbing his coat and putting on his shoes.

"We are not killing our baby!" Harley screamed.

He sighed and lifted his arms before letting them fall back to his sides "Well what do you want me to do?!"

"Be happy that you're going to have new child"

"I don't want another kid" he said harshly.

"Well you're getting one" she retorted "If you didn't want one you shouldn't have had sex with me!"

"I thought you were on the pill!"

Harley was silent "Just…please…I want you to be happy"

"Happy?! I'm always happy Harley, I'm a god damn clown!" he yelled.

"Jack, we all know you were never truly happy until Chloe came around. Why can't we have another child" she pleaded.

"Because…because…" he stuttered " _I don't know! Ok?!_ " he roared suddenly " _I don't know_!" he continued before sitting on the end of the bed.

Harley came over to sit next him "You're a good father and I know you always will be" she whispered to him and he looked over at her sceptically.

"I just don't want them taken away if…the GCPD finds them or the bat" he replied.

"You could always just stay home, you already don't spend much time out"

"That'll just make them more suspicious" he looked over to her pleading expression sighed, resting his hand on her knee and moving his thumb over her jeans "Ok"

"Ok what?"

"We'll keep it" he said and was immediately tackled by a very excited Chloe. The force pushed him back onto the bed and he laughed as he pulled her into a tight hug and freed one of his arms holding it out Harley who joined them kissing him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He hugged them both protectively to his chest and whispered contently "My girls"

…

Meanwhile in the Wayne Manor, Bruce was sitting at his bat computer. His mask was thrown carelessly on his desk and he stared at the two mug shots of Joker and Harley Quinn. Harley stood at five foot four beaming with joy despite the bruises and lacerations lining her face and her hair was tangled and out of place. Her Arkham uniform was a jumpsuit that she had zipped up to her chest and only showing a small part of the white t shirt beneath. Joker on the other side of the screen stood at six foot five and he wore a white t shirt with the jumpsuit hanging off his hips, his hair sweaty and sticking in different directions. Bruce growled quietly, inspecting the two criminals when Dick and Alfred walked into the room "Sir, dinner is waiting up stairs" Alfred reminds Bruce for the fifth time.

"Bring it down, I need to focus on this right now" Bruce replied flatly not tearing his eyes away from the Joker's.

"Bruce you've been at this for the past month" Dick sighed.

"I just don't understand" Bruce sighed "What is he up to?"

"Maybe he's found something better to do with his life" Dick suggested.

"Joker is clinically insane, people don't just suddenly get over insanity" Bruce retorted turning back to the screen.

"Sir, I don't think this is healthy" Alfred said "Or productive" he added.

"I'm trying to find where the world's most dangerous criminal is hiding" Bruce growled.

"And how is staring at their mug shots going to do any good?" Alfred asked, Bruce stayed silent "Just as I thought"

"Bruce, Gotham needs you and you're not helping it in anyway by sitting around" Dick pressed "Now come on and get out there and help me fight crime"

Bruce thought it over and sighed before standing up to join his partner, to his disappointment and worry his nemesis did not show up anywhere around Gotham. He thought back to all the times Joker had told him 'You'd be lost without me'. Bruce had never believed him and now he began to realise the Jokers lack of appearances was angering him.

…

Back at the Joker's house Chloe had gone to bed and Harley had awoken to the cold feeling of the other side of the bed which was now absent. She looked up to see Joker sitting on the window sill of their bedroom where you could see the city lights in the distance "Why are you up?"

He only responded with a question of his own "Do you think Batman's looking for us?"

"Positive" she responded quietly.

"I think I'll stay home" he stated calmly.

"Ok then, you can go out tomorrow night" she replied yawning.

"No, I mean _stay_ " he repeated "…for a while"

"B…but don't you want to fight Batman?"

He shook his head "I just want to be with here with you and Chloe and the baby" he sighed as he laid down next to her "Don't ask me why, I have no idea"

Harley looked about ready to cry tears of joy "Ok" she nodded "You can't do whatever you want"


	6. Love

Joker was sitting on the floor with Chloe in his arms watching TV when Harley came rushing into the room holding a pair of ear rings that she hadn't worn for years. Now she marched up to him and held out her hand so he could see the jewellery "Care to explain this to me?" she asked angrily. She was two months into her pregnancy and she was becoming very hormonal causing her to have mood swings, the other day she had ran into the room crying that her sister hadn't invited her to her kindergarten graduation twenty years ago and then had skipped off to play with Chloe.

Joker lifted Chloe out of his lap and stood up to look at what his girlfriend was holding "What about it?" he asked confused.

She threw the ear rings at him, one of them narrowly missing Chloe "They're not my ear rings!" she yelled "You've been cheating on me!"

"No I haven't….I don't know what…what?" he stampeded.

"Who is she, huh, am I not pretty enough for you anymore is that it?"

"Harley I haven't been cheating on you" he repeated frowning.

"Then where did they come from?!" she asked pointing at the ear rings that were now on the floor.

Joker bent down and picked them up to inspect them, then handed them back to Harley "I got you those for Christmas three years ago"

She suddenly beamed at the ear rings "Oh yeah!" she said cheerfully and kissed his cheek before skipping happily back to the bedroom.

Joker stood still for a moment staring at the spot she had been standing in. Chloe spoke up from behind him "What is wrong with her?" she asked him.

"She's pregnant" he answered "Stay here, princess, I'll be back in a minute" he told her bending down to kiss her forehead before following Harley to the bedroom. He walked in to see Harley sitting on the bed, cradling the ear rings to her chest and her chest racked with sobs as tears fell down her face "Wow" was all Joker could say.

"I wish it was still Christmas!" she wailed.

"It's just your hormones, sweets" he sighed sitting next to her.

"No it isn't" she sniffed.

"Yeah" he repeated slowly "It is"

"I just want it to be Christmas again!" she exclaimed grabbing him by the shirt and shaking him.

"Ok" he said pushing her wrist off him and standing up slowly like she was a timid animal "I'm going to go back to the living room. You come out once you've calmed down"

He left the bedroom and shut the door to the sound of Harley's weeping, once he got to the living room he collapsed onto the couch, resting his arm over his eyes. Chloe decided she wanted to cheer her father up so she crept quietly towards him and when she reached him she launched herself onto him. He yelled in pain as Chloe jumped on to him and looked up to see her beaming down at him. He slowly sat up and tried to lift her up "Come on, off" he gasped "You jumped on daddy's crotch and that hurts"

She giggled as he walked slowly to the kitchen to get a bag of ice when Harley came out and surveyed the scene. When she saw Joker holding the ice she jogged over to him "What happened?"

"Chloe jumped on me" he explained "And I think she lowered the chances of me ever getting you pregnant again"

"Oh" she said as she tried to supress a giggle.

"Not funny" he groaned as he sat back down on the couch and Chloe made a move to jump on him again but Harley stopped her.

"Honey, make sure you're careful we you jump on daddy, ok?" Harley told her, she nodded and climbed onto Joker's lap tenderly to make sure she cause him no more pain.

He immediately smiled and hugged his daughter closely while Harley watched with a smile across her face and they stayed like this for a few minutes until Chloe turned in his arms to look at Harley "Am I allowed to call you mommy?" she asked "Because you are my new mommy right?"

Harley looked about ready to burst into more tears but this time tears of joy "Here we go again" Joker muttered to himself when Harley flung her arms around Chloe.

"Yes, yes, of course you can!" she squealed and Chloe hugged her back.

"I never thought my life would lead to this" Joker stated staring at his daughter and pregnant girlfriend.

"What did you think it would lead to?" Harley asked as they both cuddled up to him.

"I thought I would die at the hands of batman, I'd finally win. I would have gotten him to break his one rule but now…none of it seems to matter to me anymore" he said quietly.

Harley gazed up at him "What does matter to you?" she whispered to him cupping her hand on his cheek.

"You…Chloe…the baby" he replied sincerely looking her straight in the eyes "I get a warm, tingly feeling when I'm near you"

"I means you love us, you care about us"

"It confuses me" he murmured placing his forehead against hers, closing his eyes "I don't understand it"

"You don't have to, Jack. You don't have to understand everything" she replied chuckling silently "Just let it go"

He looked up at her and she stared back into his bright greens eye and for the first time since she had known him she saw no anger or pain in them. He rested his hand on the back of her head and pulled her in for a deep, tender kiss to which Chloe scrunched her face up in disgust and marched off to her room. Their kiss was no longer fuelled by rage and violence but an attraction on both sides.

"Jack?" she asked once they drew away.

"Yeah?" he whispered and kissed her cheek softly.

"I don't want to have this baby without being married" she said sternly and he drew away to look at her.

"You want me to marry you?" she nodded and he thought it over for a while before he began to nod "Ok" he answered and she pulled him back into her embrace and kissed him passionately.

Joker was changing.

Meanwhile at the GCPD police station Gordon was preparing a manhunt for the Joker. His only hope since the Joker had shown up was that one day he would come to his senses and face the punishments of his actions but now that it seemed like he was more nervous about it than ever before now that he was gone. He turned to Batman "Are going to help us look?"

"I haven't stopped looking for him since the day he disappeared" Batman said in his usual grim voice "Along with Harley Quinn"

"I think should look around his old hideouts and…" Gordon began but was cut off by one of his men who ran up to them flustered and out of breath.

"Commissioner, I think I've found the reason Joker is missing" he gasped trying to get back air at the same time.

"Ok, what is your theory?"

The man began leading them to one of the classrooms that they used for trainees and explained on the way "It's always been said that the Joker couldn't love anyone and therefore could never become fully sane again but what if there was someone who came from him and his genes"

"Are suggesting that he reproduced?" Gordon gasped looking at the man like he had gone completely mad.

The policeman continued to lead them over to one of the desks that had a setup of photos and files. He pointed to a photo of a small girl "This girl's mother, Jeanie Napier, died two months ago, the father hadn't been seen since she was born four years ago and that is the same time The Joker appeared"

"So you're saying that this is the Jokers daughter" Gordon asked and the man nodded "She looks so…normal"

"After her mother was killed she disappeared, like she had fallen off the face of the earth. So I search up Jeanie's husband Jack Napier" he said pointing to a photo of a man with brown hair and slightly pale skin "Then I compared it to Joker" he added putting the two photo's next to each other and you could not deny the resemblance between them.

"Then how do you think this missing girl is tied to the missing Joker case?" Batman asked.

"I think that the girl went and found the Joker and that seeing someone that he loved before he lost his ability to do so may have brought back his sanity and that is the reason he hasn't gone out to fight you" he said pointing Batman "Because he's found something he finds more important than you"

"The Joker is insane, how do we know he hasn't killed her or worse?" Batman growled, pointing into the man's chest.

"Uh like…I said it was just…a theory" the man replied timidly.

"This man…" Batman began pointing to Joker's photo "…cannot feel love, he is a heartless monster. So I think you should just drop your theory and go back to your desk job"

"We cannot ignore possible evidence" Gordon stated sternly, not liking the way the vigilante was acting.

"It's not possible!" Batman snapped at him.

"Control yourself or you will be booted from this case!" Gordon roared.

He then turned to the police officer to get a better explanation of the case, Batman just glared at him and turned to leave. He would find the Joker even if it killed him.


	7. You can run but you can't hide

Jack was sitting in the driver's seat of his new car parked outside the warehouse they lived in, Chloe was sitting in the back playing with her teddy bear and the boot was filled to the brim with luggage "When are we going, daddy?" she asked.

Jack looked back at her and gave her a small smile "When mommy's ready."

"What's mommy doing?" she pressed.

"You know how she's going to have a baby?" he asked and she nodded "Well sometimes she gets sick in the morning, so we just have to wait until she feels better and then we can go and visit your grandparents."

Harley had convinced him to visit her parents in Brooklyn, she was almost six months pregnant, her stomach had grown considerably, she was beginning to gain weight and she wanted her parents to meet her family. She hadn't seen them since she ran off with him but now she had a family with him and she needed her parents to be a part of it. Jack had asked Harley to get some medications that could conceal his 'disfigurement', he had dark brown hair like his daughter and pale but flesh colored skin. It made him happy that he could take his family to the park or go grocery shopping.

"How big is it now?" Chloe asked.

Jack turned in his seat so he could see his daughter better, he took her hands and showed her how big "This big, about the size of an eggplant," he told her.

"That's small."

"Well, it'll get bigger, just like you did," he said smiling and kissed her forehead before turning back around to see Harley ambling out of the warehouse. She when beaming at him as she got into the passenger seat "Hey beautiful" he greeted as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Let's go," she said excitedly, almost jumping out of her seat.

"Calm down there or you might wet yourself," he chuckled pulling out of the lot and began driving down the street.

A half hour later Jack groaned when his daughter began to sing 'let it go' from the movie Frozen that she was currently obsessed with "I swear if I hear that song one more time, I'm going to go bungy jumping without the rope." he muttered.

"Oh come on, Jacky, don't be such a party pooper," Harley laughed.

He was silent "You think I can sue frozen for giving me a migraine?"

She threw her head back and laughed but her smiled dropped when she saw the amount of luggage they had which seemed to be the majority of their belongings "Jack, why we have all of this stuff? We're not moving in with my parents."

"We're moving but not with your parents," he replied.

"Why, what was wrong with the warehouse?"

"The cops were hot on our tail and that meant the batman was only hours away from finding us. I broke any security cameras that were in the area and made sure the footage was unrecoverable so that they can't follow the car. I made sure that we're untraceable, by now he has the whole bat family after me and not to mention the whole of the Gotham Police Department."

"Where are we going to live?" she asked, beginning to get worried.

"Hiding in warehouses and abandoned buildings ain't good enough" he sighed "We need to hide in plain sight and by that I mean we need to get a normal house maybe somewhere in Brooklyn where you, Chloe, the baby and I can have a normal life. Hiding out in a warehouse ain't right for Chloe and it won't be for the baby."

"What if they find us?" she pressed.

"We'll cross that bridge if we get to it."

Harley was silent "We should go get an ultrasound while we're in Brooklyn," she said suddenly.

"That'd be amazing" he responded smiling, they hadn't been able to get an ultrasound in Gotham out of fear of being noticed. Because of Batman, they lived in fear.

It took them a few hours to get to Brooklyn, they pulled up in front of a large house, Jack sighed as he took the keys out and the engine stopped making the car silent "Are you sure about this, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Don't back out now, Jack or I'll never forgive you," she said and he was silent "Well?" she snapped.

"I'm just trying to think what would be worse," he replied with a smirk.

He hit him softly on the shoulder "Ok, funny-man, let's go," they all got out the car in time to see an old couple appear from the house, who waved joyfully at the family "Come on, J, time to meet your in-laws," Harley said waving back before grabbing Jacks hand and pulling him towards the house.

"Hey, Harley, it's been so long!" he mother exclaimed giving her daughter a hug and a kiss.

"Hi Mum," she greeted hugging her back.

Her mother suddenly turned to Jack "This must be, Jack," she said excitedly and Jack frowned in confusion, _why would they be happy to see the man who took their daughter from them?_ He thought, he was about to ask but he was interrupted by her suddenly pulling him into a tight hug "Welcome to the family!"

"Uh…thank you?" he said but it sounded more like a question.

"I'm Sharon and this is Nick," she introduced gesturing to her husband.

Nick turned to him while the two ladies cooed over Chloe and talked about Harley's pregnancy "Are you going to take care of my daughter?" her father asked.

Jack nodded, about to respond but was distracted by Chloe pulling on the leg of his pants "Daddy, I'm hungry."

"Ok, baby, we'll get you something to eat," he said softly, picking her up and casting a pleading look to Harleen's father.

"Of course, sweetheart, let's get you inside and we'll find something for you to eat," he said smiling.

Harley ran up to them wide eyed "Food?" she asked excitedly.

Jack put his arm around her and kissed her cheek "Yes, food," he chuckled and led his family inside.

Five months later in Arkham Asylum Jonathon Crane, Harvey Dent, Pamela Isley and Jervis Tetch were strapped down to individual chairs by their strait jackets as the Batman paced in front of them. They had been woken up in the middle of the night by him and taken into one of the old therapy rooms deep inside the asylum "Where are they?!" Batman demanded.

"Why should we tell you?" Ivy seethed back at him.

"Because you'll regret it if you don't," he threatened.

"What do you plan to do to them?" Jonathon asked glaring at the dark knight.

"I'll beat him into oblivion and return him to Arkham."

"They'll just let them back out and this time legally, you won't be able to hurt them anymore," Harvey said smugly.

"They're insane," Batman retorted.

"What have they done for the past month that has been remotely insane?"

"I know he's planning something and I'm going to find out what it is!"

"You know, Joker always said that you were dependant on him. I never believed him till now, you're practically in pieces without him," Ivy laughed "You're disgusting," she added and spat at him.

Suddenly Batman slapped her across the face "Stop protecting him!"

"You'll never find him, he isn't even in Gotham anymore, far out of the GCPD's jurisdiction."

"Batman has no jurisdiction!"

"Well he bloody well should," Jervis muttered.

Batman began to try to beat information out of all of them until he heard the door to the room open and multiple set of feet rushing in "Batman!" one of them yelled, who he knew to be Dick.

"What?!" he roared whirling around to see Dr Leland, Nightwing, Robin and Commissioner Gordon. Dr Leland rushed to tend to the patients and Batman sneered "Don't help them, their protecting him!"

"Yeah, we are, so you don't beat them half way to hell!" Ivy shouted through a bloody nose.

"Calm down, Pam," Dr Leland said softly.

"You know if you talked to them like a civil person and asked him to prove his sanity, he would do it for his family."

"Family?" Leland asked.

Jonathon nodded "He has more important things to take care of then this bastard," he replied glaring daggers at Batman.

Gordon sighed heavily and turned to Batman "I'll need you to give me your utility belt and any other tools you have on you, we're going to hold you in a cell here while Leland and I find Joker and sort this mess out. Keeping you here is the best for everyone," he told him sternly.

"I need to protect you and Gotham, he'll…"

" _Hand over your belongings or I will take them by force!"_ Gordon roared and Batman glared at him before obeying.

He then looked at Nightwing and Robin who looked at him sadly "We agree with the commissioner, you're becoming delusional."

An orderly came into the room took Batman away without hassle, the rest of them turned to the inmates "Ok, where are they, we promise they will not be harmed," Leland asked gently and Ivy nodded and began to explain.


	8. Found

Jack woke to the sound of crying coming from down the hallway, he gently shook the woman who was pressed up against his chest "Harl, Jacob's crying."

She stirred and opened her eyes smirking "it's your turn, baby."

It had been 6 months since they had been in Gotham, they had managed to find a house in Brooklyn near Harley's parents where they couldn't be found by the GCPD. Their son had been born three months after leaving and was now only a few months old.

Jack groaned, stood up and began hobbling tiredly down the hallway to their son's room passing Chloe's room on the way. The door opened and his daughter walked out "Daddy, I'm thirsty," she whined.

Jack sighed "I'll get you a glass after I've checked on your brother, I can't be in two places at once."

Chloe whined, her new brother was always stealing her parent's attention. Jack walked into Jacob's room and picked the crying baby up out of the crib "What's with all the noise, kiddo?" the baby continued to wale as Jack took him into the kitchen and set him in his high chair before looking for his bottle.

Chloe came out into the kitchen "Daddy, I'm thirsty," she pressed jumping up and down.

"Alright hold on a minute," Jack sighed over Jacob's crying, he gave him his bottle and the child immediately stopped crying to drink from it cheerfully while his father held it. He turned around see Chloe standing on a chair trying to reach the glasses and rushed over to her "No, no, no."

"I can do it myself," Chloe said confidently folding her arms over her chest.

"No you can't, you'll fall off and crack you head open," he said and lifted her off the chair with one arm and onto the floor safely. He then turned to the glass cabinet and pulled out a plastic cup, filling it up with water and handing it to his daughter "Better?"

She nodded "Yeah," and began to walk back to her bedroom.

"What do you say?" he called after her.

"Thank you,"

Jack turned back to his son who was smiling up at him "Ok, are you good now?" Jacob just stared back at him "Yes? Good," he then carried him to his bedroom and Jacob rested his head on his father's neck until he was lowered softly back into his crib. Harley looked up when Jack finally came back into the room and giggled "What are you laughing at?" he asked and flopped down on the bed.

"You," she chuckled and he grunted his disapproval but still smiled "Oh I'm sorry I made you take care of your two children," he said sarcastically.

"You better be," he chuckled moving closer to her and kissing her passionately.

Just as Jack climbed on top of her there was a knock on the door "Who would be visiting in the middle of the night?" Harley asked confused.

"I'll go check," he said, as she made a move to follow him the banging became louder and violent "stay here," he said sternly and she complied.

He walked slowly down the hallway picking up a knife from the kitchen as he passed, the banging got louder as he approached the source. He reached the door and looked through the peep hole to see Commissioner Gordon and Dr Leland, his eyes widened at the sight and he backed up slightly trying to control his breathing "Open up or we'll force our way in," he heard Gordon say through the door and then an angry mutter from Leland directed at Gordon.

Jack rushed into his bed room where Harley was sitting up in bed "Who was it?"

"Get the kids, hide in here," he said quickly before walking back out to the living room holding the knife out in the door's direction.

He saw the shadow of Gordon turn away from the door a bit and heard the sounds of Leland's protests. The door was suddenly kicked in with Gordon rushing in and slamming him against the wall by his wrists making him drop the knife and wrestling him to the ground "Got you now," Gordon spat angrily.

Leland watched the scene with wide eyes as Gordon pulled Jack's hands behind his back "We promised we wouldn't hurt him, we were only going to talk to him."

"He's a homicidal maniac, Joan! He can't be trusted, he deserves to go back to Arkham, once I get a shot at him while he can't fight back" Gordon said darkly and hand cuffed Jack, turning him over so he was looking straight up at him.

"Gordon don't you dare hurt that man!" Leland yelled but Gordon didn't hear as he began pummelling Jack in the face and digging his knee into his chest making it difficult to breath.

He suddenly stopped when a voice scream from the door that lead deeper into the house "Daddy!"

They both looked up to see Chloe holding Jacob and Harley standing behind them with tears forming in her eyes. Gordon looked back down at the bloodied face of Jack Napier and stood up feeling a heavy wave of remorse wash over him. He had wanted revenge on the clown that had terrorized his city for years but he now realised that the clown didn't exist anymore and he had just beaten an innocent civilian.

Leland rushed over to Jack to examine the broken nose, a split lip and a forming black eye "What happened to no violence?" she asked.

"I…I wanted to take my revenge on the Joker but…but that isn't the Joker," he admitted.

"How did you find us?" Jack asked.

"You're friends gave away your location once we promised we wouldn't hurt you and locked the batman up in Arkham temporarily," Gordon replied.

"Do you know how angry they get when you break a promise?" Jack growled as Leland removed his hand cuffs.

"I know we'll have to deal with that when that problem comes around but right now we have to take you and Harley back to Arkham for a psychological evaluation to make sure you two are legally sane."

"You can't take my family away from me!" Jack yelled suddenly furious but calmed down when he heard Leland's calm voice next to him.

"Imagine how great it'll be when you're declared legally sane, the batman won't bother you anymore, the police won't bother you anymore, you'll be able to go where ever you want with your family."

Jack reluctantly agreed and stood up. It took them hours to get to Gotham and once they got there they were forced into the Arkham uniforms and a pair of handcuffs each. Harley and Jack turned to Leland "Can you take care of our kids?" she asked.

Leland nodded and the couple seemed to relax and she realised that the only thing they were real worried about was their children "Mommy! Daddy! Don't go!" Chloe cried as Leland tried to hold her back.

Jack kneeled down so Chloe could give him a hug "We'll be back soon, precious," he assured before being dragged off into Arkham watching their kids be pulled out of sight.

They were both shoved into the common room, they both looked around and saw their friends sitting by the TV together. They both sat down on a spare couch and Harley immediately tended to Jack's face "Harley?! Jack?!" she heard Ivy gasp.

"Hi, Pam," Jack rasped through a swollen lip.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she whispered and charged towards the orderly guarding the exit "I want to speak to Leland and Gordon, now!"

"They're busy."

"This is more important than whatever they could be doing!"

The guard was about to retort but before he could open his mouth Gordon and the doctor themselves entered the room "Its ok Officer Cash, we need to sort this out sooner rather than later," Leland said and the guard relaxed before walking back to his post.

Ivy marched back over to the lounges where Harley was still examining Jack's injuries "Explain this to me!" Ivy yelled gesturing to his face.

"Gordon got a little carried away," Leland muttered throwing a glare at Gordon who couldn't hide his shame.

"Oh I'll show you carried away!" Ivy growled and began towards Gordon but the Crane and Harvey held her back.

"It's not worth it, Pam," Harvey murmured which seemed to calm her down a bit.

"We didn't mean to get violent with him…" Gordon began.

"So you're telling me this was an accident?!" Harvey yelled suddenly furious, pointing at Jack's face.

"The maniac had a knife, Dent!" Gordon growled in his own defence.

"I didn't want you to take my family away," Jack spoke up from the couch "But you did that anyway,"

Batman suddenly burst into the room breathing heavily like he had just ran from the other side of the asylum, then again he probably had "Where is he?!" he roared.

Jack's eyes widened at the sight and Harley grabbed onto him. Leland tried to push Batman back out of the room but he would even budge "You can't talk to him, don't even look at him."

"I'm Batman! I can do whatever I want!" Batman yelled and stormed towards Jack, once he reached him, he dragged him up by the collar before throwing him against the wall.

Jack dodged to the side narrowly missing a punch directed at his face and brought his fists up in a fighting stance "Stop this now, I really don't want to hurt you."

" _You_ hurt _me_? Are you kidding? Compared to me you're a weakling," Batman growled and charged towards Jack at the speed it'd usually take to take him down but with unusual speed Jack dashed to the and before Batman could turn around, Jack kicked him in the back sending him forwards to meet the ground.

"You really think that when I was so dependent on you that I _really_ , I mean _really,_ tried to hurt you?" Jack asked but Batman got up anyway wiping the blood from his nose that had hit the floor. He charged again and again but Jack just dodged him.

"Stop moving!" Batman roared.

"Why the hell would I _let_ you hit me?" Jack asked begin to get tired of this little game. The next time Batman rushed him he quickly jumped over to Officer Cash, taking the billy club out of his belt and hitting Batman in the back of the head with it, effectively rendering him unconscious.

"I would usually arrest you for a stunt like that but right now I'm going to thank you," Gordon said after a long silence. Leland sighed nodding to the guards to take the Batman back to the GCPD, away from Jack.

He turned to her "So how does this work, we go to a few sessions and you decide whether we're sane or not and some person with a grudge against us makes it so we can't ever get out of here and our kids are put into some foster home and turn out just like we used to be anyway?"

"Jack, that won't happen…" she began.

"I don't really have a history of good luck," he retorted.

"Come into my office and we'll talk about it," Leland said and waved the guards off as they went to cuff the couple "They're not a danger but thank you, as you were."

She began leading them down the corridors to her office, they both took a seat across from her desk and she began to explain "When a patient is release there are certain processes that we need to go through, you'd be able to live by yourselves with your children but there are certain things you are not allowed to do like drink alcohol. You would also have an officer check on you every few days, now surely that better than being held in here while your kids are put in a foster home."

Both of the parents nodded immediately, there was no doubt about it, they wouldn't leave their children.

A few hours later in another room Batman slowly came to, he was disorientated for a moment before he remembered the reason he was unconscious. He bolted off the bench he had been laying on and sprinted down the hallway looking in all of the rooms he passed when he finally came across the room that Harley and Jack were being reunited with their children. Batman stormed into the room grabbing Harley by the arm and Jack by the collar of his jacket and began dragging them back out the room. He stopped in his tracks when he heard the desperate cries of the children behind him and looked back at them "Mommy!" the girl wailed over the baby's crying "Daddy!"

He suddenly remembered back to losing his parents and crying in the alley over their dead bodies. He stood still as he watched the parents try to get back to the children and the children being held back by a guard, when he let the parents go Jack ran over to his son Jacob and picked him up cradling him in his arms shushing him until the baby stopped crying. Jack suddenly turned to Batman with a blank expression, Batman backed up nervously as he approached and readied his hand on a batarang. He calmed down when Jack held out his hand "Truce?"

Batman silently shook the man hand, no more words were exchanged between them but they both knew that neither of them would be a problem anymore.


End file.
